Shadows in the dark

Chapter 21

Princess Celestia sighed softly as she finished the last of her paperwork for the morning. She had hoped it would take her mind off of Rarity and Trixie, but it wasn't enough. She's worried for the both of them. It's only been three days since their capture. Thus today would be marking the fourth. The alicorn stood up from her throne and walked over to one of the stain-glass windows depicting the Elements of Harmony defeating Nightmare Moon.

Her eyes trailed over to the small image of Twilight Sparkle. A tear rolled down her face as she thought about the young unicorn. She missed her...so much... The alicorn princess found herself unable to remove her dead student from her mind. When she saw something that reminded her of Twilight, it would bring back memories of the days before the incident in the Crystal Empire. Before King Sombra's return. Back when everything was just right in Equestria. There was the incident with Discord and the Changelings, yes, but all of that had been taken cared of with the Elements.

"I should've known..." Celestia whispered to herself. Closing her eyes as tears proceeded to roll down her cheeks. "Oh, Twilight... I should've seen this coming... King Sombra was just too powerful for you. I should've gone instead. Or perhaps I should've sent Luna with all of you..." The alicorn sighed sadly and turned away to from the window and slowly walked back to her throne.

"Princess?"

Celestia stopped and turned. A bit surprised to see a certain alicorn she hasn't seen since Twilight and Shining Armor's death. "Cadence." she said in a slightly surprised tone of voice.

"In the flesh." the other alicorn laughed softly.

Celestia merely smiled before the two embraced in a tight hug. "I've missed you..." Celestia said during their hug. "The castle didn't feel the same without you around."

"My psychiatrist suggested that I stayed somewhere away from Canterlot to help clear my mind of the events." Cadence chimed. Smiling softly. It felt good to be in the arms of her adoptive aunt once more. She really missed being around other ponies besides her psychiatrist. Stay a full year in the woods was exactly what she needed at the time. It allowed her to clear her mind in an undisturbed environment free from the stress of losing her husband and sister-in-law.

"You must tell me of your stay in White Tail Woods." Celestia said after breaking their hug and made their way over to one of the large arched windows.

"It was definitely calming." Cadence replied. "At first, I didn't really want to stay. But over time, I got use to being alone. It helped me accept the fact that both my husband and sister-in-law are dead. But..." she looked up at Celestia and gave her a small smile. "I'll see them again, eventually. For now I'm going to have to learn to move on with my life and let go of the past."

Celestia nodded. "That's the Cadence I know." she said fondly.

"So how are the others?" Cadance asked.

"Luna's still Luna." Celestia laughed softly.

Cadence giggled. "And...how are Twilight's friends?"

"Fine, I assume." Celestia replied. "They've grown slightly distant from one another, but still good friends. Although her death has affected them greatly."

"As it did to everypony else..." Cadence added softly.

"But let's not dwell on the past so much." Celestia said, placing her hoof on her adoptive niece's shoulder. "Twilight would want us to move on. It's the least we could do other than finding her killer."

Cadence sniffled. "Speaking of killer, did you find him yet?"

Celestia sighed and shook her head. "We haven't had much luck in the last year or so. But I've turned my attention on a different matter, however."